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Determining The Genetic Contributions Of The Williams Syndrome Critical Region To Behavior Using Mouse Models And Human Genetics, Nathan David Kopp

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Williams syndrome is a neurodevelopmental model caused by the deletion of 26-28 genes on chr7q11.23. The loss of these genes affects multiple organ systems resulting in severe cardiovascular disease, craniofacial dysmorphology, intellectual impairment, a specific Williams syndrome cognitive profile made up of deficits in visual-spatial processing with preserved language skills, and a characteristic hypersocial personality. The reciprocal duplication occurs at a lower frequency and manifests with diametric phenotypes to the deletion. This suggests that this locus harbors dosage sensitive genes that play a role in neurodevelopment. Large efforts have been taken to identify which genes are responsible for causing the …

Aging Of The Reproductive System And Of Germline Stem Cells In Caenorhabditis, Zuzana Kocsisova

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

C. elegans hermaphrodites display dramatic age-related decline of reproduction early in life while somatic functions are still robust. To understand why the germline fails so early, we analyzed the assembly line of oocyte production that generates fertilized eggs in mated hermaphrodites with sufficient sperm. Aging germlines displayed both sporadic and population-wide changes. A small fraction of aging animals displayed endomitotic oocytes in the germline and other defects. By contrast, all animals displayed age-related decreases in germline size and function. As early as day 3 of adulthood, animals displayed fewer stem cells and a slower cell cycle, which combine to substantially …

Effort, Avolition And Motivational Experience In Schizophrenia: Analysis Of Behavioral And Neuroimaging Data With Relationships To Daily Motivational Experience, Adam Culbreth

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Recent research has suggested an association between motivational impairment in those with schizophrenia and reduced willingness to expend effort on experimental tasks. However, few studies have examined the neural correlates of effort-based decision-making in those with schizophrenia. In the current study, we aimed to examine willingness to expend effort, the associated neural circuitry of effort-based decision-making, and the impact of experimentally-defined effort-based decision-making on daily motivational experience in schizophrenia. We recruited 28 individuals with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls to perform an effort-based decision-making task while undergoing fMRI scanning. In order to assess whether willingness to expend effort was associated …

Determining The Genetic Contributions Of The Williams Syndrome Critical Region To Behavior Using Mouse Models And Human Genetics, Nathan David Kopp

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Williams syndrome is a neurodevelopmental model caused by the deletion of 26-28 genes on chr7q11.23. The loss of these genes affects multiple organ systems resulting in severe cardiovascular disease, craniofacial dysmorphology, intellectual impairment, a specific Williams syndrome cognitive profile made up of deficits in visual-spatial processing with preserved language skills, and a characteristic hypersocial personality. The reciprocal duplication occurs at a lower frequency and manifests with diametric phenotypes to the deletion. This suggests that this locus harbors dosage sensitive genes that play a role in neurodevelopment. Large efforts have been taken to identify which genes are responsible for causing the …

High-Density Diffuse Optical Tomography During Passive Movie Viewing: A Platform For Naturalistic Functional Brain Mapping, Andrew Kelsey Fishell

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Human neuroimaging techniques enable researchers and clinicians to non-invasively study brain function across the lifespan in both healthy and clinical populations. However, functional brain imaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are expensive, resource-intensive, and require dedicated facilities, making these powerful imaging tools generally unavailable for assessing brain function in settings demanding open, unconstrained, and portable neuroimaging assessments. Tools such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) afford greater portability and wearability, but at the expense of cortical field-of-view and spatial resolution. High-Density Diffuse Optical Tomography (HD-DOT) is an optical neuroimaging modality directly addresses the image quality limitations associated with …

Quantitatively Studying Tissue Damage In Multiple Sclerosis Using Gradient Recalled Echo Mri Sequences, Biao Xiang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain the body. MS is the most common progressive neurologic disease of young adults, affecting approximately 2.3 million people worldwide. It is estimated that more than 700,000 individuals are affected by MS in United States. While MS has been studied for decades, the cause of it is still not definite and a fully effective treatment for MS is not yet available.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used extensively in MS diagnosis and for …

Visual And Chemosensory Pathways Associated With Male Courtship Decisions In Drosophila Melanogaster, Ross Mckinney

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Successful mating in diverse animal species often depends on ritualistic sequences of spatially and temporally coordinated behavioral elements. Yet, the sensory cues and neural circuits that mediate optimal mating display patterns are largely unknown. The courtship ritual in Drosophila melanogaster consists of a well-studied sequence of behavioral elements — including orienting, chasing, tapping, singing, and licking — that are known to depend on several sensory modalities, including both vision and chemosensation. However, the specific sensory inputs utilized by males to direct the spatial and temporal transitions between different elements of the courtship ritual are not well understood. In this thesis, …

Brain Blood Flow And Metabolism: Variable Relationships In Altered Metabolic States, Tyler M. Blazey

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Brain metabolism is usually thought of in terms of energy production. Decades of research has shown that the brain derives the majority of its energy from the oxidative phosphorylation of glucose transported from the blood into the brain. Because of this, cerebral blood flow (CBF), the cerebral metabolic rate of glucose consumption (CMRglc), and the cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption (CMRO2) generally are tightly coupled. Indeed, the coupling between CBF, CMRglc, and CMRO2 is robust enough such that many investigators believe them to be equivalent measures of brain activity.Nevertheless, research over the last few decades has shown that cerebral …

The Role Of Mitofusins In The Osteoclast Lineage, Anna Ballard

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Mitochondria exist in a highly dynamic network in many cell types, and mutations in mitochondrial transmembrane GTPase mitofusin2 (MFN2), a key factor that mediates mitochondrial tethering, cause defects in the nervous system. Intriguingly, the skeleton has been overlooked in patients with such mutations. Because expression of MFN2 and its homolog, mitofusin1 (MFN1) increase with maturation of osteoclasts (OCs), which are rich in mitochondria, we sought to determine the role of mitofusins in the OC lineage. Double knockout of Mfn1 and Mfn2 in OC precursors by Lysozyme-M cre reveals that mitofusin activity is required for OC function and maintenance of bone …

Multi-Omic Understanding Of The Evolution Of Xenobiotic Tolerance In Bacterial Isolates And Communities, Tayte Paul Campbell

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Xenobiotic compounds are any chemicals that are released into an environment by human action and that occur at concentrations higher than found naturally. Xenobiotics, including aromatic compounds and antibiotics, are recalcitrant to degradation because they are often toxic or mutagenic. Despite this toxicity, bacteria account for a large portion of xenobiotic degradation in the environment. Bacteria are able to adapt to these foreign chemicals, gaining increased levels of tolerance and increased rates of xenobiotic degradation. On the strain level, increased tolerance can be caused by mutations in individual cells or through the acquisition of genes from other cells. At the …

Effort, Avolition And Motivational Experience In Schizophrenia: Analysis Of Behavioral And Neuroimaging Data With Relationships To Daily Motivational Experience, Adam Culbreth

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Recent research has suggested an association between motivational impairment in those with schizophrenia and reduced willingness to expend effort on experimental tasks. However, few studies have examined the neural correlates of effort-based decision-making in those with schizophrenia. In the current study, we aimed to examine willingness to expend effort, the associated neural circuitry of effort-based decision-making, and the impact of experimentally-defined effort-based decision-making on daily motivational experience in schizophrenia. We recruited 28 individuals with schizophrenia and 30 healthy controls to perform an effort-based decision-making task while undergoing fMRI scanning. In order to assess whether willingness to expend effort was associated …

High-Density Diffuse Optical Tomography During Passive Movie Viewing: A Platform For Naturalistic Functional Brain Mapping, Andrew Kelsey Fishell

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Human neuroimaging techniques enable researchers and clinicians to non-invasively study brain function across the lifespan in both healthy and clinical populations. However, functional brain imaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) are expensive, resource-intensive, and require dedicated facilities, making these powerful imaging tools generally unavailable for assessing brain function in settings demanding open, unconstrained, and portable neuroimaging assessments. Tools such as functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) afford greater portability and wearability, but at the expense of cortical field-of-view and spatial resolution. High-Density Diffuse Optical Tomography (HD-DOT) is an optical neuroimaging modality directly addresses the image quality limitations associated with …

Genomic Signatures Of Conflict And Cooperation In Plants And Social Amoebae, Katherine Sylvia Geist

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Arms races involve bouts of reciprocal co-adaptation to a social environment. We have a strong sense for how arms races drive the evolution of genes in purely antagonistic contexts, such as host-pathogen or predator-prey. In these systems, conflict that produces arms races between two parties results in positive selection – the fixation of adaptive alleles between species – for both parties. However, we do not have an equal sense for how arms races during cooperative enterprises shape genic evolution. If we assume that arms races affect genic evolution similarly regardless of context – antagonistic or cooperative – then we would …

Siderophore-Dependent Transport Paradigms For Iron Across The Bacterial Cell Envelope In The Human Pathogen Staphylococcus Aureus, Nathaniel Endicott

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This work is focused on iron trafficking through ABC transporters in Staphylococcus aureus and combatting the growing antimicrobial resistance crisis by exploiting virulence factors as therapeutic targets. Specifically, the goal was to understand the role of a siderophore-binding lipoprotein FhuD2 in S. aureus iron trafficking. While S. aureus endogenously produces three metallophores for metal sequestration from the host, FhuD2 is thought to scavenge metals from hydroxamate-based xenosiderophores encountered in the host environment. FhuD2 is a critical virulence factor and vaccine candidate (Novartis) for MRSA. Since xenosiderophore scavenging systems are often dispensable, it was hypothesized that FhuD2 must be playing another …

Visual And Chemosensory Pathways Associated With Male Courtship Decisions In Drosophila Melanogaster, Ross Mckinney

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Successful mating in diverse animal species often depends on ritualistic sequences of spatially and temporally coordinated behavioral elements. Yet, the sensory cues and neural circuits that mediate optimal mating display patterns are largely unknown. The courtship ritual in Drosophila melanogaster consists of a well-studied sequence of behavioral elements — including orienting, chasing, tapping, singing, and licking — that are known to depend on several sensory modalities, including both vision and chemosensation. However, the specific sensory inputs utilized by males to direct the spatial and temporal transitions between different elements of the courtship ritual are not well understood. In this thesis, …

Elucidation Of The Role Of S100a8/A9 And Neutrophils In Chronic Tuberculosis, Ninecia Scott

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is the number one killer due to a single infectious agent. Although, there is a vaccine against TB and antimicrobial treatments available, approximately 1.8 million people die each year. This underlines the importance of identifying and understanding mediators of TB pathogenesis to develop new diagnostics for early detection and therapies to treat individuals progressing to active disease. One of the cellular mediators that may play a role in TB pathogenesis are neutrophils. Neutrophils have been associated with active Tuberculosis (ATB); however, the role that neutrophils play within Mtb infection and disease is still …

Mechanisms Of Nestmate Recognition Cue Production In The European Honey Bee, Apis Mellifera., Cassondra Leigh Vernier

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Social insects are some of the world’s most ecologically successful animal groups, and their complex societies are considered one of the pinnacles of animal evolution. Since these organisms live in colonies composed of many individuals and stored resources, they are a target for intruders, such as parasites, predators and conspecific robbers. Therefore, many social insect species have evolved mechanisms for nest defense, including nestmate recognition, where guarding individuals at the entrance of the colony use cues on incoming individuals to determine whether they are nestmates or intruders. Although nestmate recognition is incredibly important for maintaining colony integrity and fitness, the …

Quantitatively Studying Tissue Damage In Multiple Sclerosis Using Gradient Recalled Echo Mri Sequences, Biao Xiang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable, often disabling disease of the central nervous system (CNS) that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain the body. MS is the most common progressive neurologic disease of young adults, affecting approximately 2.3 million people worldwide. It is estimated that more than 700,000 individuals are affected by MS in United States. While MS has been studied for decades, the cause of it is still not definite and a fully effective treatment for MS is not yet available.Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used extensively in MS diagnosis and for …

Secretory Iga Enhances Gut B Cells Priming And Systemic Igg Responses Towards Commensals, You Zhou

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

IgA is the primary antibody response at mucosal surfaces and is reported to inhibit adaptive immune responses against gut bacteria. Here, we utilize an in vitro system to expand and screen IgA memory B cells for their ability to recognize gut bacteria in the context of secretory IgA (sIgA) deficiency in polymeric Ig receptor (Pigr–/–) mice. Contrary to the prevailing hypothesis that IgA provides an immune exclusionary function, we found that mice lacking sIgA showed decreased anti-bacterial IgA specificities as assessed using flow cytometry. IgA B cell responses against certain taxa such as those of order Bacteriodales showed greater dependence …

New Season Of Plays By Theatre Uab Announced For 2019-2020, Shannon Thomason

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Comparison Of The Efficacy Of Four Drug Combinations For Immobilization Of Wild Pigs, Christine K. Ellis, Morgan E. Wehtje, Lisa L. Wolfe, Peregrine L. Wolff, Clayton D. Hilton, Mark C. Fisher, Shari Green, Michael P. Glow, Joeseph M. Halseth, Michael J. Lavelle, Nathan P. Snow, Eric H. Vannatta, Jack C. Rhyan, Kurt C. Vercauteren, William R. Lance, Pauline Nol

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Field immobilization of native or invasive wild pigs (Sus scrofa) is challenging. Drug combinations commonly used often result in unsatisfactory immobilization, poor recovery, and adverse side effects, leading to unsafe handling conditions for both animals and humans. We compared four chemical immobilization combinations, medetomidine–midazolam–butorphanol (MMB), butorphanol–azaperone–medetomidine (BAM™), nalbuphine–medetomidine–azaperone (NalMed-A), and tiletamine– zolazepam–xylazine (TZX), to determine which drug combinations might provide better chemical immobilization of wild pigs. We achieved adequate immobilization with no post-recovery morbidity withMMB. Adequate immobilization was achieved with BAM™; however, we observed post-recovery morbidity. Both MMB and BAM™ produced more optimal results relative to body temperature, recovery, and …

Swimming In The Deep End: Curtin Library’S Deep Dive Into Data..., Drew Fordham, David Lewis, Amanda Bellenger

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

In 2017 Curtin University Library staff commenced an initiative to explore library data through analysis and visualisation tools. A Working Group was formed of self-selected staff from across the library who had a common interest in opportunities to use data and analytics tools. A key focus was to seek innovative ways to use data and have a measureable impact on library operations and future planning.

An environmental scan of the data landscape in academic libraries suggests five core areas of activity – the use of library data to gain insights, the need to upskill library staff in data methods, the …

Evaluating Data Management Plans - Are They Good And Are They Effective?, Peter Green, Amy Cairns, Dr. Hollie White

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Since 2014, Curtin University Library has provided support to researchers in using the University’s in-house Data Management Planning (DMP) tool. The tool guides researchers through a series of questions on how they plan to collect, store, secure, and share their research data. Creation of the plan is a prerequisite for staff to obtain ethics approval and file storage. Uptake of the DMP has been excellent over that four years, but are the plans good and are they effective?

In 2018, Curtin University Library chose to collaborate with a Masters by Coursework student, Amy Cairns, to undertake a study to analyse …

Uq Library's Journey Towards Fair Research Outputs - Advancement Of Research Data Management And Digitisation Services, Rebecca Deuble, Mandy Swingle, Dulcie Stewart, Fei Yu

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

The growth of data and technology has deeply impacted on the ways that scientific research are practiced, bringing new challenges to academic libraries. In Australia, the recent worldwide movement to FAIR – findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable - research, has seen institutions shift towards developing relevant policies and standards, so as to remain competitive in the global economy.

This paper will discuss how The University of Queensland (UQ) Library has taken significant steps to achieving the FAIR principles for research outputs, within Digitisation and Research Data Management (RDM) services.

The institutional repository, UQ eSpace is critical in supporting these services. …

A Brave New World: Threshold Concepts And First Year Student Information Literacy, Tim Ormsby

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

For many years, Flinders University Library has provided a library quiz, primarily aimed at first year students. Starting life as a paper-based assignment, the quiz was moved into the University’s learning management system in the 2000s. The library quiz focused purely on practical information literacy skills: how to search the catalogue, how to search databases etc.

As time went on, it became clear that the quiz was not working. The videos and screenshots quickly became obsolete with frequent database interface changes. We were constantly updating the quiz at our busiest time of the year. It just was not sustainable. More …

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue: A Marriage Of Innovation In Nursing Ebp And Digital Literacy Education, Bryan Chan, Dr Li Wei, Marlene Daicopoulos

Proceedings of the IATUL Conferences

Background: Evidence-based practice (EBP) is the foundation of modern health services. It improves patient outcomes and quality of care by combining clinical expertise, patient values, and the best research evidence to guide health care decisions. The ability to find, evaluate and apply evidence is essential for EBP. However, preparing the future nursing workforce with the required knowledge and skills to do so can be a challenge.

Objectives: At Murdoch University, we have integrated various digital tools with our personal learning platform to develop an interactive tutorial for final-year nursing students. The tutorial aims to improve skills in the areas of …

Substance Use Treatment Accessibility For Pregnant And Postpartum Women, Adrienne Borders

Psychology ETDs

This study aimed to (1) characterize substance use treatment preferences, barriers, and attitudes in an under-represented sample of pregnant and postpartum women; (2) examine associations between barriers and help-seeking preferences, treatment attitudes, treatment engagement, substance use, and well-being; and (3) examine moderating effects of culture. Participants were 27 women, most of whom were treatment-experienced, of ethnic minority status, and from lower-income households. Results indicated flexibility in treatment preferences, and positive attitudes about treatment despite an extensive number of barriers. Participants indicated greater interference from stigma, relative to instrumental barriers. Qualitative responses revealed unique barriers experienced by this sample, and offspring …

A Comparison Of Individual Learning And Social Learning In Zebrafish Through An Ethorobotics Approach, Yanpeng Yang, Romain J. G. Clément, Stefano Ghirlanda, Maurizio Porfiri

Publications and Research

Social learning is ubiquitous across the animal kingdom, where animals learn from group members about predators, foraging strategies, and so on. Despite its prevalence and adaptive benefits, our understanding of social learning is far from complete. Here, we study observational learning in zebrafish, a popular animal model in neuroscience. Toward fine control of experimental variables and high consistency across trials, we developed a novel robotics-based experimental test paradigm, in which a robotic replica demonstrated to live subjects the correct door to join a group of conspecifics. We performed two experimental conditions. In the individual training condition, subjects learned the correct …

Bioluminescent Flashes Drive Nighttime Schooling Behavior And Synchronized Swimming Dynamics In Flashlight Fish, David F. Gruber, Brennan Phillips, Rory O'Brien, Vivek Boominathan, Ashok Veeraraghavan, Ganesh Vasan, Peter O'Brien, Vincent A. Pieribone, John S. Sparks

Ocean Engineering Faculty Publications

Schooling fishes, like flocking birds and swarming insects, display remarkable behavioral coordination. While over 25% of fish species exhibit schooling behavior, nighttime schooling has rarely been observed or reported. This is due to vision being the primary modality for schooling, which is corroborated by the fact that most fish schools disperse at critically low light levels. Here we report on a large aggregation of the bioluminescent flashlight fish Anomalops katoptron that exhibited nighttime schooling behavior during multiple moon phases, including the new moon. Data were recorded with a suite of low-light imaging devices, including a high-speed, high-resolution scientific complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor …

Aventurescence, Gracia E. Nash

Theses

Aventurescence explores ideas of comfort and identity through glass and the body. I am interested in the material qualities and limitations of glass, including luminosity, flexibility, and fragility; and the ways in which these can be expressed and communicated through the body. To expand the material’s flexibility I used a combination of multiple glass bodies and silicones to create glass textiles and objects with flexible surfaces. I also used traditional fusing methods and alternative glasses (reflective glass beads) to create sheets and screens. These objects and textiles parallel skin, and communicate with the body through object, performance, and the consequent …